Bletchley Park exhibition goes behind the scenes of new movie

Bletchley Park is opening a major new exhibition to take visitors behind the scenes of the highly-anticipated movie The Imitation Game which hits UK cinema screens on November 14.

A dramatic portrayal of the life and work of Second World War codebreaker Alan Turing, the film stars a host of British acting talent including Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley.

On Tuesday, November 4, there will be an exclusive preview screening of the film for a select audience at Bletchley Park. In the evening there will be a preview of the exhibition all about the making of the film, in the very room where the bar scenes were filmed.

Entering the exhibition on a red carpet in the billiard room, visitors will first see costumes worn by the stars, Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley as Alan Turing and Joan Clarke, as well as the boys at Sherborne School, where a young Alan was played by Alex Lawther.

Once inside the ballroom itself, fans can pose for a photo in the bar, and discover more behind-the-scenes gems.

The array of items on display will include the Enigma intercepts Alan Turing stuffs into his socks and trousers to sneak them off site, the scribbles made by John Cairncross (played by Downton Abbey’s Allen Leech) and the prototype Bombe machine Turing names Christopher, after his first love.

Sarah Kay, Bletchley Park’s digitisation and exhibitions officer, said: “The Imitation Game exhibition is an opportunity to not only provide our existing audiences the chance to see some of the film’s set dressing and some of the fantastic objects and documents created by the film’s art department.

“It is also an opportunity for us to reach new audiences of film fans who otherwise may not be familiar with the secret wartime work of Alan Turing and the thousands of other heroes who undertook arguably the most important work of the their lives.

“The making of the film will send the history of Bletchley Park worldwide with such incredibly impressive and intense performances by some of Britain’s most elite actors.

“Bletchley Park is incredibly proud of what the filmmakers and actors were able to achieve.”